Mark Cannizzaro

Mark Cannizzaro

NFL

Giants prepared to weather the storm with Dallas in town

Giants weather. Served cold with a side of wind.

This is what awaits Tony Romo and the Cowboys on Sunday’s brunch menu at MetLife Stadium, where game-time temperatures are expected to be in the 20s with sustained winds of more than 20 miles per hour.

If you’re a dyed-in-the-blue-wool Giants fan, you know exactly what MetLife will look like Sunday: It’ll be 70,000-plus fans bundled in their blue Giants jackets and hats, their breath visible in the chill of the air, the sound of their clapping muffled by gloves and mittens, willing their beloved home team to victory against a dome-team opponent not as equipped for the biting edge Northeast weather sometimes brings.

The Giants could not have dialed up a better weather forecast if they were a part of Jim Cantore’s Weather Channel inner circle.

Winter weather — Giants weather — could not have come at a better time for the Giants, because they absolutely, positively have to have this game to keep their march from 0-6 alive and their once-improbable playoff hopes intact.

“It’s Meadowlands football,’’ Giants long snapper Zak DeOssie said Friday. “We’ve seen it all here. We practice in the wind every single day and this is, in my opinion, the windiest practice facility anywhere because we’re in the middle of a quagmire. So wind, rain, snow, sleet, whatever it is, we’re not surprised. So yeah, you learn to welcome it over time. You can use it to your advantage when you practice in it all the time.’’

Bring it on, the Giants say.

They believe their quarterback — Eli Manning — is better equipped than Romo to make his passes slice through the tricky Meadowlands wind.

They believe their running game — led by two running backs (Andre Brown and Brandon Jacobs) who were not on the roster in Week 1 when David Wilson handed the Cowboys the ball, and subsequently the game, on two fumbles — should be better suited to wear down an injury-depleted Dallas defense.

The Giants (4-6) did not have a single player on the injury list who did not practice the last two days, and have not only won their last four games, but are healthier than they have been all season.

Conversely, the Cowboys (5-5), who have lost two of their last three games and have been giving up near record-setting amounts of yardage, are hurting at linebacker, with starters Sean Lee and Justin Durant and backup DeVonte Holloman all ruled out for the game.

The Giants’ Week 1 loss to the Cowboys occurred largely because of two killer lost fumbles by Wilson (now on IR), but Sunday they will attack Dallas with a revamped running game led by Brown, who was injured when the teams first met.

It does not take a rocket scientist to see where this is going, to figure out the direction of the Giants’ game plan: A heavy dose of Brown with a side of Jacobs to attack the weakened Dallas defense and prevent Manning from having to throw the ball 35 times into the teeth of the wind.

“They said it’s supposed to snow, so that would be fun,’’ Brown said. “Hopefully, Dallas won’t like it being cold, and with us being used to the cold weather it will be an advantage.’’

Giants coach Tom Coughlin said the coaches “always pay attention’’ to the weather forecast for games and they “are always very clear with our players exactly what they’re running into.

“Hopefully, we’re a team that is more familiar with some of the weather situations that occur [at this time of year] in this part of the world,’’ Coughlin said.

The Giants practiced indoors on Friday, because Coughlin said morning rain left their practice fields too slick for safe footing. But the weather was mild and calm compared to the Sunday forecast, so it would not have further prepared them anyway.

Giants safety Ryan Mundy, who came to New York after playing four years in Pittsburgh, said Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau used to rally his players before cold-weather games.

“Coach LeBeau used to always walk around and say, ‘This is Steelers weather,’ when we had cold, rain, muddy conditions,’’ Mundy recalled.

It’s going to be cold and windy Sunday — and around these parts we call that Giants weather.